Crashed Into You
by aeileen
Summary: Losing everything sucks, especially when you have to move to a whole other country after your mom dies in a car accident, only to get yourself in another car accident... But maybe everything does happen for a reason. Percabeth AU/ All human/ No gods/ Semi-OOC


Losing everything sucked. First her mother, then it was her home and now her entire life. Annabeth decided to put in in simple terms by saying she was _screwed._

Her mother, Athena, died a month previously in a car crash, and Annabeth finally had all of her affairs in order and was headed off to a whole new continent to live with her father. Annabeth reluctantly said goodbye to her London flat she had lived in for so many years and hello to the southern United States heat.

Annabeth's father, Frederick Chase, was the mayor of a small Georgian town named Olympia. His wife, Katherine was a stay at home mother to their twin sons Bobby and Mathew who had just turned thirteen. Annabeth would be attending Olympia high, the town's local high school. Annabeth had never been to this town, or even this country. After her parents split when Annabeth was only seven months old, her father moved back to America and was later elected mayor after his father, her grandfather, decided he wasn't going to run for reelection.

Annabeth had finally arrived to her father's small town in a cab she had hailed at the airport. Annabeth enjoyed looking at the Civil War era architecture of the buildings in the town square. It was lined with shops and office buildings, all surrounding a small circular piece of land lined with benches and in the middle sat a statue of a man on a horse holding a rifle in his right hand.

Annabeth felt like she was being taken out of town as she was being driven down a long road lined with trees on either side, until she came to a large iron fence and a gate. The gate was open and the cab passed though, but not before Annabeth noticed an ancient looking sign that read "Chase Plantation". Annabeth's jaw had nearly dropped into her lap as they pulled up to the home, if it could even be called that.

The estate looked like it was straight out of _Gone with the Wind_, Annabeth's favorite American film. Large willows framed the gravel drive that led to the grand antebellum style home. It was easily over a hundred meters long, and the largest single family home she'd ever saw, next to the Buckingham Palace which her school had taken a trip to when she was eight. White pillars towered, supporting the second story of the house, where a balcony lined the main portion of the house. The two side wings looked very similar to the main portion, but lacked the pillars. Blue shutters lined the windows and Annabeth found herself knocking at a large, dark red door, waiting to see her father face which hadn't graced her eyes in three years.

The door was opened by a plump man in a suit who was defiantly not her father. He had an icy tone to his blue eyes and dark, close cropped hair. A white cloth was draped over his left arm which was held against his rib cage in such formality Annabeth thought that there must be an invisible sling keeping it in place.

"Yes?" The man said, "Who are you?"

"Uh," Annabeth said trying to remember why she was there, "I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm looking for my father; he should have known I was coming?"

"Ah yes," The man said, "I am Dionysus, the butler. Your father was expecting you Anniebell, he is in his study."

"It's Annabeth," She said to the rude butler, though it was lacking her usual snark and sass, seeing her mind was still comprehending the fact that her father lived here, that_ she_ lived here. "Can I speak to my father?"

Dionysus reluctantly opened the door further so she could enter and then relieved her of her luggage. Annabeth had to refrain from gasping at the foyer. She was always infatuated by architecture. She wanted to be an architect when she was older. Annabeth was mesmerized by the brutal simplicity and stunning intricacy of the white walls and dual rounded staircases.

Dionysus was making his way up the left staircase with her bags when he stopped and looked at her.

"Your fathers study is down that hall, first door to the right after the kitchen," He said as he pointed to the hall that ran in between the stairs. "I'll take these to your room."

"Thank you." Annabeth said absent mindedly as she was gazing at the room.

Annabeth finally composed herself and made her way down the hall, taking care to open every door she passed seeing she'd be living here. She found a library that had four walls lined head to toe of different books. She figured she'd be spending a large sum of time in there. She passed a few broom cupboards and several water closets before she found the kitchen that seemed very modernized compared to the rest of the manor. It was all white and black granite with stainless steel appliances and a large center island that had a built in wine rack that was filled with sodas instead. Annabeth figured that in a house this old, there was probably a large wine cellar underground that was full of perfectly aged, expensive wines.

Annabeth took a breath as she knocked on the first door to the right past the kitchen. A warm voice from the other side said to enter so she slowly turned the doorknob and walked into the room. Her father was sitting behind a large, dark wood desk, typing away on a laptop. He looked up and saw her and closed his laptop and stood to meet Annabeth. Annabeth was slightly startled as he embraced her in a hug.

"It's so good to see you, Annie." He told her as they broke apart from their hug. "I only wish it was under better circumstances.

"Likewise," Annabeth said, "Your butler is an arse."

"Yes well," Fredrick said in between laughs, "He is a good man, just a little bitter. Come, let's have some tea." Annabeth's stomach growled loudly, "And maybe some sandwiches?"

"Yes please."

Annabeth and her father walked towards the kitchen and Fredrick started bustling about, putting the kettle on the stove, finding mugs, making sandwiches. Annabeth tried to remember where he was finding everything but she figured it'd take a while to know where things went. Once the kettle was hot, her father poured the water into two mugs and retrieved the honey and tea bags. Fredrick looked out the large double-dutch doors that lead to a porch area and retrieved a silver tray from under one of the counters. After placing the food and tea on the tray he turned his attention back to Annabeth.

"It's a nice day today, let's eat outside."

Annabeth wordlessly trailed behind her father out the doors and into the covered porch area. They sat across from each other on two small wicker couches and Annabeth helped herself to the food. She was so concerned with eater her sandwich, she almost forgot she was in the presence of her father whom she hadn't seen in three years.

"So," Annabeth said after washing down the food with a sip of tea. "Tell me about this place."

"What would you like to know?" Her father asked.

"Well, for starters, how about you explain to me why you never told me you lived in a mansion."

"Ah, yes." Frederick said as he scratched the top of his sandy blond head. "Well, this manor has been in our family since before the Civil War. It was much smaller one hundred and fifty something years ago, but the main house was burned to the ground during the war and was later rebuilt much, much larger. The Chase family has lived here since it was built for the original mayor of Olympia, who was also the founder of the town and your great, great, great, great grandfather, William Chase. He's the man in the statue in town square, I'm assuming you saw it while driving here?"

"Yeah, I did." Annabeth said, processing the information, "So our family founded this town?"

"Yes."

"And why didn't you ever tell me this?"

Fredrick sighed.

"I suppose it was because the last I saw you, you were fourteen and you were happy with your mother in London. I didn't want to tell you that there was a huge house and anything you could ever want over here because if you did want to come live with me, I wanted it to be because you wanted to live with _me_ not with our family's money." He took a sip of his tea, "I didn't want to buy your favor."

"Oh," Annabeth said looking down at the mug in her hands. "Dad, I would've loved to come live with you… It's just, you live so far away, and you had a new family. I didn't know if I'd be welcome to come stay for a few months at a time. I would have been overjoyed to come stay with you for the summer holidays."

"Annie, even though you don't know them very well, your stepmother and brothers really like you, you've always been welcome here. But enough of this, how are you doing… with everything?"

Annabeth thought for a minute. After her mother died, she was a wreck. She didn't do anything but cry and read books about people with stories even more tragic than hers. Annabeth had stayed at her grandmother Metis's house until she came to the states. Her grandmother didn't seem all that bothered with the death of Athena, and she didn't pay any attention to Annabeth. Annabeth often compared Metis to a fly that got inside your house, you notice it every once in a while and just hope it goes away.

After about three weeks, she was finally getting herself back together. She bid farewell to her friends, packed up her things and tied up all loose ends. Annabeth said goodbye to the boy she could have potentially dated, Luke Castellen, and her best friend, Katie Gardener and anyone else who would miss her, and then she mourned the loss of them and her mother.

"I'm dealing." Annabeth sated finally, "I'm handling this a lot better than I would have thought. But I wish I could've just came to see you by choice, not mum's death."

"Annie, I know how hard this is. I lost my mom when I was about your age too. It's a lot to process, but you're a strong one. I know you'll get through this."

Annabeth was about to reply when a pretty woman with ginger hair that Annabeth recognized as her stepmother walked outside holding a dry cleaners bag.

"Fredr-Oh! Annabeth, you're here!" Katherine said as she laid the bag across one of the wicker couches. "Sweety, how are you doing?"

"I'm about as well as I possibly can be." Annabeth replied.

"What happened to your mom was a tragedy. Bless her heart. If you need anything, anything at all, don't be afraid to come to me. We want you to feel as welcome as possible."

"Thank you." Annabeth said genuinely. She hated when people told her they were sorry for her mother's death. It wasn't like they killed her. They didn't have anything to feel sorry for. It was such a misused expression.

"Kathy," Fredrick addressed his wife, "Would you mind showing Annabeth around? I have some things I need to attend to in town." He got up and patted Annabeth on the shoulder as he passed. He was almost out of view before he turned once more. "The keys are in her room."

**0-0-0-0-0**

"Your house is amazing." Annabeth told Katherine.

"Thank you, Honey. But it's your house too, now." Katherine stopped at a door on the second floor and opened it. "This is your room."

Annabeth looked in and was in awe. A large queen sized bed was pushed against the left wall with a storm grey ruffled duvet that matched the color of her eyes. The bed was facing two glass doors with the same color drapes pulled off to the side revealing the large yard and the small lake that occupied part of it. Annabeth marveled at the large bathroom she had all to herself and the walk in closet that she could live in. Her bags were set in the closet and she made a mental note to unpack them later. Annabeth smiled at the white ceramic owl lamp on the desk and figured her father remembered that that was her favorite animal. Annabeth was admiring the view from the balcony when she noticed another large plantation home on the other side of the lake. It wasn't as big as her father's but is was of very respectable size.

"Who lives there?" Annabeth asked, pointing to the house in the distance.

"Oh," Kathy said, "That's the Jackson's manor."

"Who are the Jacksons?"

"The Jacksons are the other founding family of Olympia. They've had a rival with the Chases for over a century, ever since William Chase became mayor rather than Henry Jackson. They've always been the ones who ran against your family for mayoral office. Fifty or so years ago, they finally gave up and the rivalry was over, until the current Jackson, Poseidon, decided he was going to run against your father last year. Obviously we know who won, but now he's digging up old feuds and grudges and making a mockery of this town."

"They sound like jerks." Annabeth stated.

"Hmm, yes," Katherine said, "Not all of them are though. Poseidon's wife, Sally, she is one of the kindest people in this town. She makes up for her husband's arrogance. Their son, Perseus, he's a bit of a troublemaker, but he seems like a fairly good kid. But I don't mean to be a gossip." Katherine walked over to the desk and picked up a set of keys that Annabeth had neglected to notice earlier. "Your father bought you a car to get you to school and home and anywhere else you'd like to go." Kathy handed the keys to Annabeth, "The smaller one is the house key."

"You didn't have to do that." Annabeth said taking the keys.

"Well you have to have some way to get around. It's quite a walk to get into town."

"Thank you, so much."

"Of course sweetie," Katherine looked at the clock on the bedside table. "I have to go pick Bobby and Mathew up from school, you can feel free to explore the house or go into town. Your car is the silver one."

Katherine left the room, her heels clicking as she walked down the hall. Annabeth set the keys on the bed and took a quick shower before she ventured into the driveway to find a very pristine looking silver truck. Annabeth smiled as she unlocked the door and got into the truck. She was momentarily confused as to the fact that the wheel was on the wrong side. Then she remembered that Americans drive on the right.

Annabeth turned out of their overly long drive and started down the road. She momentarily looked down and started to fidget with the radio, trying to find a good song to listen to. Then Annabeth heard a loud noise that sounded like a car's horn coming from outside. She grabbed the wheel and swerved to the other side of the road. Annabeth slammed on the breaks but it was too late. The last thing she remembered was black.

Needles were piercing her brain.

Tires screeching.

Horns blaring.

Crash.

Annabeth opened her eyes, expecting to see a sterile, white hospital room or god, or something. What she didn't expect was to see a raven haired boy looking at her with a concerned and angry expression on his face. Annabeth brought a hand to her head and groaned. She was lying on the pavement.

"So you're not dead?" The boy asked.

"What… happened?" Annabeth managed as the boy helped her sit up.

"_You _were driving on the wrong side of the road. We swerved at the same time crashed head on."

Annabeth put her head in her hands and groaned. A sudden burst of anger broke through, which didn't surprise her seeing she had been bottling up emotions for the past month. She managed to stand and look at the boy, then she started yelling.

"_I was _not _driving on the wrong side of the road! You we're! Because you lot are stupid and do it differently here and it's stupid and _dumb and really, really stupid." Annabeth's anger was depleting, she realized she was being irrational. The UK is the only place that drives on the left rather the right, so she was the stupid one, and she was feeling even more stupid for forgetting that she was supposed to drive on the right.

"Are you _British_?" The boy asked.

"Yes I'm British you idi-oooh." Annabeth couldn't finish her sentence as for her body was starting to feel the effects of being in a car crash and before she knew it she was falling and the raven haired boy was catching her.

"Come on, sit down." The boy said, basically carrying her to the grass on the side of the road.

"I'm sorry." Annabeth said as she regained her bearings. "It was my fault, I was the stupid one, _I_ was the one who was driving on the wrong side of the road and hit _your_ car! Then I started yelling at you, and I'm sorry. I don't even know your name… I'm just really pathetic right now."

"Hey," The boy said, "Don't say that, you're just _semi-_ pathetic."

Annabeth let out a dry laugh.

"Oh why thank you, Mr. Chivalry."

"Relax, I'm only kidding." The boy said with a smirk. "It's Percy, by the way. My name is Percy."

"Annabeth."

"So Annabeth, what brings you to the good ole' state of Georgia?"

Annabeth thought for a moment, why _did_ she come here. She could've stayed with her grandmother. Or she could've gone to Katie's or even boarding school. But she missed her father. He wanted to be in her life, it was just difficult.

"My father." Annabeth answered.

"Does your dad live in Olympia? I probably know him."

"You probably do." Annabeth said, "My dad is Mayor Chase."

"Mayor Chase? I didn't know he had a daughter."

"Well, he does."

Annabeth and Percy sat in silence for a few minutes staring at the wreck of their cars. Annabeth felt her head throb even harder the longer she looked at the crushed metal heap or a car. Bile was starting to rise in her throat and she knew if she didn't start doing something, she was about to vomit on the black haired boy sitting next to her.

"So what about you," Annabeth said, trying to force the foul fluids back down, "Have you lived here your whole life?"

"My family has lived here as long as yours has."

"Wait," Annabeth said, realizing who she was talking to, "Percy… Are you Perseus Jackson?"

"Ugh," Percy cringed, "who names their kid Perseus? I mean seriously. But yeah, that's me."

"So our families, they like…"

"Hate each other?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Brilliant."

Percy smiled. It was a genuine smile that you rarely see nowadays. Most smiles are processed and face that people plaster to their faces in mock kindness to strangers, but once in a blue moon you see true smiles that make you have to smile back even if you don't want to. The contagious kind, those are the true smiles, and that's the kind of smile Percy had.

"What are you smiling at?" Annabeth asked him. Percy's smile turned sheepish.

"Oh, um, uh yeah, it's nothing."

"You have to tell me now." Annabeth protested.

"It's just, your accent…"

"What about it?" Annabeth was starting to feel defensive, was he making fun of her? What made him think that he could make fun of her accent?

"I like it."

Annabeth smiled. Maybe Percy wasn't so bad for being in her family's "rival" family. Annabeth's rear was starting to hurt from sitting on the hard ground so she attempted to stand, and then promptly failed. Percy had to help her gain her balance. Annabeth caught a glimpse of her reflection in the smashed truck's metal side and realized how terrible she must've looked. Her blonde curls were askew and there was a cut on her head with blood and hair dried to her forehead. Her grey eyes looked a little wild and her shirt had blood from her head on it as well.

"Do you have a phone?" Annabeth asked, realizing her state.

"I called 911 while you were out. They take a while to get here, small town and all."

"Oh."

Sure enough, two minutes later, an ambulance was pulling down the long road. Annabeth felt a little over compensated for, riding in the back of the ambulance, she had a concussion at worst, though her car was wrecked so she couldn't very well drive herself. Annabeth was slightly worrying about how her dad would react to this whole fiasco as the paramedics tended to her cuts. She hoped he wouldn't be too mad for smashing the car, seeing it was her fault for driving on the wrong side of the road. Then she wondered if he'd be scared. Athena had just previously died in a car wreck and now Annabeth crashed hers. He would probably be scared to get in a car, wondering if he was next.

Percy had stayed behind at the wreck and waited for his dad to arrive with the town's insurance adjuster, seeing he wasn't injured while Annabeth rode in silence to the hospital in the next large town. She had been informed her father was on his way and would be meeting her there. Annabeth decided she wouldn't get behind a wheel again before properly taking an American driver's course and getting a Georgia state license. She hoped that would be enough to appease her dad, but who knew.

The hospital was lined with a white walled maze of halls. Annabeth was wheeled to an exam room much to her dismay. She had told the nurses she could walk but they didn't seem to want to listen. After they got her into the room, Annabeth waited for a doctor while the nurses ran some tests. After she had her vitals checked, blood drawn and downed a few ibuprofen her father had arrived in sync with the doctor.

The mayor didn't say anything as he entered the room. He just hugged his daughter and looked to the doctor for news. The man informed her she had a minor concussion and prescribed some pain killers as needed. Besides a few other scrapes and bruises, she was lucky. Head-on crashes normally have much worse outcomes. When the doctor left, Frederick turned to his daughter.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Head hurts." Annabeth said, "Are you mad?"

"Mad?" Her father asked, "No Annabeth, I'm not mad. I was worried sick though. As soon as your concussion is healed, you're taki-,"

"I know, I know, I'm taking American driver's education. I already decided on this myself."

"Good choice." He said, "Let's go home, I'll drive."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

When Annabeth and her father arrived home she was inevitably coddled by her stepmother. After much insistence that she was fine, she was allowed to go to sleep. She slept like a rock and was glad for it. She'd rather not feel the throbbing in her head if she didn't have to. Annabeth figured she'd been out for a few hours, her clock read 8:00 pm. The low growl from her stomach alerted Annabeth that she had missed dinner. After finding her way to the kitchen, she made herself a bowl of soup and sat out on the back porch.

Annabeth was halfway done with her meal when she noticed a figure coming towards her. Her vision was still slightly blurred from the concussion but she could make out a mess of black hair, and seeing the person was coming from the Jackson's manor's direction, she assumed it to be Perseus Jackson himself.

Annabeth's assumptions were proved to be right when he asked if he could join her. When she accepted, he sat in the chair opposite of her own. One of his knuckles was bandaged and his cheek was slightly bruised, but besides that, he had escaped unscathed.

"I convinced my dad not to sue you for driving on the wrong side of the road." Percy stated. Annabeth tried to withhold a smile.

"Thanks." She mumbled, "I owe you one."

Percy put up his hand, brushing off her comment, "Any time."

Percy spoke to Annabeth for a few minutes longer. She informed him that she would be starting school a week later than planned due to her concussion, but would most defiantly be having her stepmother drive her to school when she did attend. Percy explained to Annabeth that when she did get there, there was a girl named Drew that she should watch out for, but everyone else wasn't half bad.

Annabeth's soup had gone cold, she excused herself and went to tidy her mess from before. She watched Percy start back the trek to his own home before she made her way to the kitchen. Annabeth was pleased to make it back to her room without anyone noticing she was awake. The blonde haired girl was about to close her eyes for the night when her phone buzzed on her night stand. She picked it up and looked to see a new notification.

"_ percyjackson is now following you on Twitter!"_

Annabeth laughed slightly and shook her head before lulling herself into a peaceful sleep.

**AN;**

**New story time. I kind of know where I'm going with this one already which is a first. Normally I just go with the flow, so hopefully I'll be able to update more quickly. I really appreciate feedback and reviews make me extraordinarily happy.**

**(note; chapters will probably be a little longer than this one, but this is just the first one so it's a tad shorter!)**

**-aeileen**


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